Control device for heating systems



l Aug. 19, 1930. w. FfKLocKAu CONTROL DEVICE FOR 'IE'I'NGv SYSTEMS Filed Feb. 18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 19, 1930. w. F. KLocKAU I` CONTROL DEVICE FOR HEATING SYSTEMS Filed Feb. 18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 19, 1930 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM F. KLOCKAU, F ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS coNTnoL DEVICE Eon HEATING SYSTEMS Application aia February is, 192s. serial No. 255,251.

This invention relates to control devices for heating systems. y

Experience has shown that in household systems in which automatically operated 'oil or gas burners are utilized, the furnace is quickly cooled as soon as the burners are lclosed down, due to the presence of a strong draft through the burner connections, the fire box of the furnace and the flue connections to the chimney, induced by reason of the vacuous condition in the chimney'fiues. This is true even if an ordinary type of damper were interposed in the flue rvconnection from the furnace tothe chimney, since, unless the damper were of a character as to entirely seal ther passage, the strong draft induced therethrough from the chimneywould still result in rapid cooling of the furnace. Further, when a burner is operating at full capacity, safety requires relatively free passage u provide an automatically actuated mechaof the products of combustion to the chimd Iiey, and when such provision is made and' the burner shut down,vthe heat calories gener- ,A

\ positively opened when the burner is operated lin the furnace quickly pass out of the chimney, due to the conditions above out-4 lined, and result in rapid cooling of the furnace.

It also has been found that the best results are obtained in connection with a heating system of the type referred to, wherein the draft is maintained ata minimumwhen the.

burner is operating so that while adequate provision must be made for the relatively free passage of the products of combustion, such passage should not be of suchsize as to be wasteful of the heating properties thereof because of too free passage in to the chimney. One robject of the present invention is to provide means for remedying this condition, so that relatively unobstructed passage to the chimney is provided for the sake of safety when the burner is operated, but provision is made whereby the lheat .calories may be retained within the furnace after the burner has been shut down,'said means including mechanism for closing the connection to the chimney and simultaneously opening the iue connection to a by-pass flue communicating with an lexternal source of air supply, so as to relieve the vacuous condition in the chimney and divert its action from communica-4 tions with the furnace, whereby the heat calories are retained within the furnace and serve to maintain the same heated long after the burner is shut down.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the character above indicated, which is automatically operated through connection with an automatically operated burner whereby shutting down of the burner causes the ymechanism to operate to close the connection between the furnace and the chimney and cause communication of the latter with an exterior source of air supply, and when the burner mechanism is again operated, the control device is thrown out of position to provide relatively unobstructed passage qf the products of combustion from the furnace to the chimney.

Still anotherfobject of the invention is to nism, including a damper, wherein thedamper is closed when the burner is shut down and ating, the maximum extent of opening of the damper being adjustably controlled, and the damper being connected to the actuating mechanism in such manner that it may open and close within certainlimits independent of the actuating mechanism and dependent upon variations of draft through the heating system.

Other vand-further objects of the invention will moreclearly appear from the'descrips tion and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a partof this specification, Figure l is an elevational or diagrammatic view of a household heating system, including a burnerand casing, a furnace casing, and a flue for conducting the products of combustion from the furnace casing, the view disclosing the position and application of the control device with respectl to saidl system.

.Figure 2 is an enlarged detail bottom plan View of the control device utilized in connection with the invention.

' Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the control device,` corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and showing the i #conduit 13 extending from the .furnace 12 toautomatic means utilized in the invention is" disclosed.

As lshown in the drawings, 10 indicates aburner casing` and 11 a tan casing utilized in connection therewith, there being a nozzle, not shown, which enters the irebox of the furnace indicated at 12, the latter communi-a eating with an outlet flue 13 which communicates with the chimney 14.

As is usualin connection with heating systems of this type, some automatic means .are provided for intermittently operating the burner 10. In the diagrammatic lavoutdisclosed in Figure 6, a motor 15 is utilized for driving the blower and burner, and the mo` tor is cut on and oi automatically through the provision of a thermostat 16 which may be located in a' central compartment of the,

dwelling to be heated. @t course, the ther'- mostat operates to cut otl the motor when the heat becomes too great, and to energize the same when the temperature drops below a certain degree, The motor 15 is connected to a source of .electric energy by means ofthe power lines 17 and 18. Although a blower burner` is indicated in tliedrawings, it will be understood that the invention may be utilized uin connection with any burner, whether it be oil, gas or other 'type,`and wherein the same is automatically cut on or otle by suitable actuatingmeans. All of the above construction is of an old andwell-known type, and forms no partof the present invention, 4except in so far as it enters into combination therewith, as hereinafter set forth.

The control device'itsel may be indicated broadly by the referencey character A,'and from an inspection of Figure 1*, it will be seen that the device is interposed within theiue the 4chimney 14.l The control device A comprises a square sheet metal casing having a. top wall 19, side walls 20-20 yand a bottom wall 21. The opposite ends of the casing are preferably secured, as by rivets 22-2'2, to end castings 23 and 24, the casting 23 being connected'with the flue 13 which enters thel furnace lcasing 12, while the casting 24 is connected with a continuation 25 of the Hue, 13

which leads to the chimney 14. f

Mounted within the casing A isa pivoted damper 26, preferably made up from a fiat' rectangular sheet of metal having one end rigidly connected to a pivot pin 27 carried by a pair of brackets 28-28 secured to the end casting 23 at the lowerl side thereof. The

aperture 31l adapted to be adjustably reguy lated by means of a pivoted member 32, when desired. The bottom wall 21 of the casing A is cut out, as indicated at33, thereby providing an opening which communicates with the compartment in which the heating system is mounted and exteriorly of the furnace and blower casings. It desired, any suitable pipe may be attached to the casing A and led toa point where it communicates with atmospheric air outside of the building.

rlhe damper 26 is normally held in its closed position, as indicated in full lines in Figure 3, by means, of a weight 36 which is adjustably carried upon an arm 37 rigidly aixed to the pivot pin 27. In order to provide automatic means for opening the' damper 26, acrank 38,is aHiXed to the outer end of the pivot pin 27, and to the free end of the crank a pull rod 39 is ailixed by means oi a slot and pin connection' 34, the opposite end ofthe pulllrod being provided with an env largement. 40 which formsthe armature of.

.a solenoid coil 41 carried by the casing 42 affixed to the side of the end casing 24 by means of a bracket 43.' One end of the coil 41 is connected by a wire 44 with the wire 18 of the motor circuit of the blower 10, while the opposite end4 of the coil41 is connected by a wire 45 with the wire17 of said circuit, whereby the solenoid is connected in parallel with the motor l5 and is energized simultal fi neously therewith. A set screw 35 is tap ed throu h the endwall of the solenoid casing for a justability limiting the movement of the 'armature 40.

Inuoperation, assuming the burner to be shut down, and the temperature reduced belowthe desired degreewithin the building, the thermostat 16 will operate to close the circuit tothe motor 15, which starts up the burnerv and maintains the same in operation so long-as vthe thermostat 16 maintains a closed circuit for the motor. During the operation of the burner the same discharges into the lire box of the furnace casing, and the products of combustion passv from the furnace casing through the flue-conduit 13. During the operation of the motor, by rea son of connection of the solenoid in a parallel circuit with the motor circuit, the coil 41 will be energized and attract the armature 40 of the solenoid which is connected to the?v pull rod 39, the latter serving to oscillate thecrank 38 in a clockwise direction, as viewed move downwardly into its position to close.

in Figures l1 and,6, causing the damper 26 to or partially close the opening 33 in the bot- -tom of the casing A. So long as the motor l circuit is energized, the solenoid circuit likewise is energized, and consequentl the damper 26 is held in its partially close position so as to provide substantially unobstructed passage of the products of combustion through the -flue conduit 13 and its extension to the chimney 14. By reason of the provision of the slotted connection 34 of the pull rod 39 with the. damper, and the limited movement of the pull rod, as controlled by the screw 35, when the burner is first started up, and uponthe rst blast from the burner, the damper lmay move i downwardly to position to close the opening 33, thereby preventing the escape of smoke from the opening 33. Afterward when circulation is established, the. damper 26 can again move to its position partially across` the passage for the products of combustion of its own accord and float between the two positions defined by the ends ,of the slot and.

automatically find a position de endent upon the intensity of the draft. In t is way the damper serves to open the 'passage for the products of combustion only the minimum extent consistent with safety, and thereby bring about a condition wherein the greatest heating efficiency is obtained.

Vhen the thermostat 16, because of the increase in temperature beyond the desirable extent, breaks the motor circuit, the solenoid circuit is likewisey broken,- releasing the armature 40 and permitting the weight 36 to swing the damper to the position shown in full lines in Figure 3, to close communication from the furnace to the chimney, and through the opening 33 in the bottom of the casing to open communication betweenv the chimney and the inside of the compartment exterior of the furnace and blower casings. The heat l' calories' in the furnace are thus retained therein` so as to 'prevent rapid cooling of the furnace, and, by reason of shunting the draft from the chimney, from the furnace to the atmosphere exteriorly thereof, practically no draft is induced through the furnace, and consequently there is no tendency for the heat calories to pass rapidlyout into the chimney. The damper in its, closed position practically seals the furnace casing from the chimney,

" except for the small opening 3lin the-damper I claim:

1; In a construction of the character described, the combination with a chimney flue, a furnace or boiler communicating therewith, and a power actuated burner co-operating with said furnace or boiler; of automatic means co-operating with said power burner and actuated in synchronism therewith to permit relatively free passage of the products 'of combustion from said furnace or` boiler to said chimney when saidl burner is actuated and -operable. in synchronism with said burner when the latter is shut down to interrupt the draft from the chimney to the furnace and simultaneously by-pass said draft to a point exterior of said heating system. v

2. In a construction of the character de-I scribed, the combination with a heating system having communication with an outlet flue for the products of combustion; of a control 'device interposed within said heating system and including a casing communicating with said heating system and said outlet flue and with the atmosphere exteriorly of said heating system and outlet flue; and a damper adapted in one position to provide relatively free passage to the products of combustion from the heating system to the outlet flue, and in a different position to close said passage and'placc said outlet flue in` communication with the atmosphere exter` nally of said heating system, a power actuated burner communicating with said heating system; and means co-operating with said burner whereby said damper is automatically opera ted dependent upon the power supplied to said burner,

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casing adapted to be interposed in the flue connections for the escape of the products of combustion for a heating system, said casing being provided with openings communicating with the heating system and with the outlet iue togprovide a passage for the products of combustion, said casing also being provided with an opening communicating withthe atmosphere externally of said heating systemand outlet flue; a dam-per adapted to close said passage or the opening tothe external atmosphere, said damper being normally urged to position to close said passage and power means for automatically moving said damper to a position to limit the opening to. the external atmosphere.

4. In a construction of the character described, the combination with a heating system including a furnace, a burner and a chimney iue communicating with said furnace, said burnerbeing actuated by an electric device; of a device interposed between said chimney outlet and said furnace to provide a passa e for the products of combustion, and a y-pass to the external atmos- VID phere; damper means movable to position to close said passage or to partly close the opening to the external atmosphere, and means operated through the circuit of said electric device for moving the damper to partly close the opening to the external atmosphere when said device is operated, and to move said damper to close said passage when said device is at rest.

5. In a construction of the character described7 the combination with a heating system, including a burner adapted to be intermittently operated, a furnace or boiler, and an outlet iiue for the products of combustion, and a conduit leading from said furnace to said outlet iue; of a control device interposed in said conduit and comprising means for establishing communication between said furnace or boiler and said outlet flue and between said outlet iue and the atmosphere exteriorly of said heating system; a damper co-operating with said device for interrupting communication between said furnace or boiler and outlet flue and opening communication of said outlet flue with external atmosphere, or opening communication between said furnace or boiler and outlet flue and interrupting communication of said outlet iue with external atmosphere; and means for automatically operating said damper to interrupt communication of the furnace or boiler with the outlet flue when said blower burner is at rest, and to interrupt communication of said outlet flue with external atmosphere when said burner is operating.

6. In a construction of the character described, the combination with a heating system; of a draft control device, including a damper adapted in one position to shut off the draft in said heating system; and actuating means for moving said damper to open said damper and establish said draft, said means including mechanism providing for limited movement of the damper in its open position independent of said actuating means and dependent upon variations in the draft conditions.

7. In a construction of the character described, tlie combination with a heating system, including a chimney flue and means providing a conduit between said heating system and chimney flue, said conduit having an opening communicating with atmosphere exterior of sai-d heating system; of a control device including a damper adapted in one position to cut olf draft from said heating system an-d said chimney and establish communication between said chimney and exterior atmosphere through said opening; and actuating means normally maintaining said damper in position to cut off draft and being operable to move said damper to establish draft and cut dt wn communication of said chimney flue with said atmosphere, said actuating means including mechanisms providc ing for limited movement of said damper independent of said actuating means and dependent upon variations in the draft from said heating system to said chimney flue.

8. A device for the purpose described consisting of an elongated casing having an aperture in one side; a damper adapted in one position to close the conduit, said damper being movable to position to close said aperture and open saidconduit means normally urging said damper to its closed position; a solenoid connected to said damper for moving the same into position to close said aperture when said solenoid is energized; and a lost motion connection between said solenoid and said damper whereby the latter may automatically accommodate itself to conditions within said conduit.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this l0 day of February 1928.

WILLIAM F. KLOCKAU. 

